Here’s our long-awaited look at Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson. [Jezebel]Tarek El Moussa filed for divorce & he wants spousal support. [Dlisted]James McAvoy looks great at the Split photocall. [LaineyGossip]
Who was the worst-dressed woman at the Golden Globes? [Go Fug Yourself]
Here’s a great comprehensive summary on what has been verified about and around the Donald Trump dossier. [Pajiba]Elle Fanning wore a bedsheet to her big premiere. [Popoholic]Steve Harvey doesn’t think anyone will date Asian men. [The Blemish]
Some photos of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, if you’re into him. [Moe Jackson]Ramona Singer shows off her kitchen remodel. [Reality Tea]
Do the Fixer Upper families stay in their Waco homes? [Starcasm]Natalie Portman’s bump is growing by the day. [Celebslam]

@nastywoman.
What? Honey, no. I think I maybe kind of get you, but no.
He wasn’t for all intents and purposes white.
He was a groundbreaking black artist. He was a black man regardless of his surgery or skin tone.
Same way Blac Chyna is a real person despite her efforts to look like a barbie doll.

@African Sun – Yes, I’m being serious. For casting purposes, Michael Jackson was white. He was whiter than a lot of white people in pictures. He’d altered his nose. He wore a wig that was straight haired. He had made his features Caucasian. I know he was a groundbreaking Black artist who professed to be proud to be African American, but for casting purposes, he was white. Or have we forgotten the Flex-in-light-makeup debacle?

@Nasty Woman, you are looking at this in a very literal one-dimensional way. Michael was very proud of being African-American and regardless of what he looked like and his skin colour does not change the fact that he was African-American/Black from the day he was born until the day he passed away.

Having a white actor play a Black person when there are plenty of Black actors around who could play him here is a joke and it is extremely offensive.

Nasty, I’m sure you meant no harm…. But I’m calling out harm…
Whatever was meant… Ralph Finness has no excuse NONE. why didn’t they just track down the dude who played him in the verbatim t.v reenactments screened every day during M.J’s 1994…oops, I mean his 2005 , yes that’s the one ( so many) trial for multiple child molestation.
Why not get that guy?? I bet he could use the work.
Anyone who still does not believe he was a child molester is insane. Verbatim, M.J. to any little boy he could get his hands on ” Bros’ before Hoe’s, they all had to chant before being invited to his f’d up NEVERLAND Ranch. There is a reason he saw him self as Peter Pan. Pan, the pied piper, who led all the lemmings to their deaths.

ugly cried. then almost did it again about an hour ago. that man is a disgrace of a human being. obama with such grace and message exits and we get trump. im not eloquent or patient enough to describe my utter disbelief, horror, and disgust.

Yeah, we got a lot of Hiddles posts yet not enough Rami Malek, Dev Patel, Riz Ahmed and Diego and Gael. They were the superior bro couple, tbh. They came in matching suits, how sweet was that? And s/o to the stylist of Diego. He looked mighty fine and served major glo-up.

@Adrien Oh my goodness, I need me more Dev Patel, Rami Malek and Riz Ahmed. Extra emphasis on Riz because I feel like he always gets overlooked when he’s so talented. I have yet to see a work of his in which I was not stumped by how massively charismatic he was on screen.

That doesn’t make it right. Michael was very glad to proclaim being black. I recall a 2001 interview he did for Ebony magazine (I believe). He said that race is similar to a mask, but to him, it was a mask that could reference back to his heritage and people. He spoke of the Yoruba masks and how he lives his life by wearing different artistic masks, BUT he still claimed black. Satire or no, this is not cool.

That’s enlightning. No shade intended. Since I never was afan of his I always assumed he was ashamed of his heritage and aspired to be white. I mean why else mess with his face and trying to look less like himself. Either way thst is a whole other conversation and does not excuse this mess of a film. Why would any self respected actor would agree to this. I am looking at Fiennes.

My god. I never did on all my born days think I would see what I just saw. Um….wtf did just see.Someone help. And bless the people of color on this board for your absolute grave and forbearance. I would suggest unbelievable. But given what is happening, I can’t.

Every time I see James McAvoy all I can think about is how I SO WOULD, even though I’ve been in a relationship for over a decade. Those looks, that accent, and he seems like a decent man. No end to my love for him. 💖

Other than that, everything is a shitshow and I wanna live in a cave for the next 4 years. James is welcome to visit at any time.

naw, Lynnie you’re much nicer than I deserve credit for, i was being sassy and referring to the Cory he was ‘friends’ with and the other children taken to the Ranch. I bet his poor bio kids though, they would love to remember and have their dad.

@cakepopsie. Nope, never met the man. I’ve just seen the court documents stating that he brought children into his room to view pornography with him, and reports on the type of pornography he kep. I would love to remember him as a lost soul, but his lost soul damaged others, including kids and I can’t with that. Can’t find the links to the actual scanned documents, but Vanity Fair brings up the issue with grooming and inappropriateness. I stayed in the dark about MJ for a long time because it hurt me to admit he very, very likely wasn’t a nice guy, and its a disservice to the kids he hurt to want to sweep it under the rug.

Wow… I did not know about the actual court documents. I guess you learn something new everyday. And don’t worry detritus you’re still a cool, smart, and awesome person snark included 😊. (It’s called celeBITCHY after all lol)

Michael, in comparison say to Casey Affleck, or Woody Allen, gets very little shade. None of them of course have been found guilty of a criminal offence. At least two of them paid money to their accusers. But the difference in approach is striking.

Annetommy, very true, it’s strange how certain things are glossed over, and others become the focus. I wonder about age groups and how and when the news or scandal, breaks.

I don’t know about others, but for myself, his music, his dad’s abuse, that was the story I grew up with. The story of MJ as a lost boy who overcame to become a pop music god. It was hard to adjust to the reality.

It’s easy to focus on the part of the story that speaks to you, if you have empathy in any measure, it’s very hard not to feel for Michael. His story is such a very sad one, despite his many successes, and horrifying at the same time.

Watching that clip and knowing it was a white actor going for “laughs” by mocking Michael Jackson’s appearance and mannerisms made me nauseous. Michael Jackson had a unique look and style, but that point can be made without resorting to racist blackface. For example, CGI, a black actor with facial prosthesis and extensive makeup, a black trans actress, or a black cis actress would all be better than this white male mummery. Michael Jackson deserves better than a modern minstrel show treatment, and so do we.

Right? Like I LOVE Stockard Channing as Liz Taylor and Brian Cox is perfect casting so why ruin it with this bizarre MJ casting. This looks like it would be an awesome movie if theye hadn’t ruined it with that.

Michael Jackson, monumentally talented and a troubled and perhaps, self-loathing human being. An insane childhood and out sized fame as part of his daily life. Add to this, from the look of this trailer, Fiennes’ portrayal is played for laughs and as a joke?

I know that we try to see people in a better light when that passed but I was always irked by MJ’s obsession with becoming white and his deranged (to say the least) relation with kids. I know he was clearly unstable but also very very problematic in a lot of ways.

People here are talking about him as if he was a saint. I had read a while ago that this was going to be a satire so white dude playing a black dude who wanted to be white. However, I think it is tone deaf at this point to pick THAT as the satirical perspective. Much like a Tibetan played by a white woman is not a feminist move but a whitewashing one.

I may be wrong and apologise in advance if I am hurting anyone’s feelings.

To quote Whoopie in Ghost: You in danger, girl. LOL. I’m giving the wide-eyed emoji face to all the “Michael Jackson was very proud to be black” comments. He certainly could have fooled me. At best, he was insecure and thought he looked “better” with the extensive surgery; at worst, he was self-loathing and not proud at all. But there are artists I will always love regardless of character flaws, so …

The proud to be black comments are direct quotes from Michael. He said he was proud to be black. He had a complex relationship with race but he was not stupid and still identified as a black man. The skin lightening in his eyes was not because he hated his blackness or his black culture.

Steve Hardy is an idiot but many studies have shown Asian men are the group that are the least likely to get matches on online dating sites.Gay and straight sites.It’s unfortunate.I attended a school with alot of Asian guys and they used to tell me how Asian women even preferred white guys to Asian guys.On gay sites they are just seen as a fetish.
But I repeat Steve Harvey is an ignorant idiot.

Michael Jackson had the skin condition vitiligo which causes loss of pigment in the skin. I don’t know much about it but maybe it was more effective to bleach the skin rather than tan to achieve even toned skin.

Also, I think being “black” means being of native African descent. African albinos can be more fair skinned than Caucasians but would still be considered black.

I wonder who they will cast as Kanye in the regrettable, yet unavoidable Kardashinan movie that is going to come out in a few years. Justin Bieber would be a good choice, don’t you think? Or, if they want a real actor, how about Tom Hiddleston?

I thought this was a joke when they first talked about casting a white man to play MJ.

I am literally…I don’t know what to say. It’s insulting to Michael, his family and to all the black actors who could and should have been cast.

What the hell were they thinking?
Even if his appearance became lighter and more Caucasian as he grew older, then you get an actor with the same skin tone (or similar) and alter his appearance accordingly.

I’m surprised there isn’t more outrage or ridicule about this. They are effectively saying that only a white man is good enough to portray him and the change in his features.
I just don’t get it.